Your Cousin Joan
by CaliforniaTexasNorthCarolina
Summary: It has been so long since I posted on this channel - 16 months! But here is one more Frozen fic for all of you. Inspired and continues on from the wonderful epic Your Aunt Elsa by robert3A-SN. Please, enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Wicker Basket

**Chapter 1: Wicker Basket**

The night over the kingdom of Arendelle was still. The castle was silent as most of the servants either slept or had returned to their homes for the night. Queen Elsa was sequestered away in her study, burning the midnight oil - in perhaps the most literal sense of the phrase, the wax on her candle's wick was dripping, and the flame was almost out. The monarch still had treaties to look over, military commissions to sign. Elsa always got into a zone when she was working. A zone so encompassing, that she managed to tune most everything else out.

Like now, when she didn't hear the door to her study open and shut. Nor did she hear footsteps approaching her desk, but even when she wasn't engrossed in work, Elsa marveled at how he had such a soft tread. All that told the Queen that she was no longer alone was that she sensed a presence just off of and circling her desk. She glanced up, quill in hand, but no one was there. "Who's there?"

"It's me," a soft voice replied. Then, strong, calloused hands began massaging her shoulders. Gentle lips dipped a kiss into her neck. Her eyes fluttering shut, Elsa leaned back into the touch, letting out a soft moan.

"Enough for one day," her husband, Robert, enticed. "Annabelle's in her crib, asleep. Come to bed."

As intoxicating as his touch was, Elsa was not quite ready to go to bed just yet. Spinning away from his embrace, she rested her hands gently on his chest. "At least let me take a stroll around the courtyard first. The grounds are so pretty at night."

Robert kissed her lips gently, agreeing to the compromise. "But hurry straight to bed after."

Elsa smiled softly. "I love you." She pecked his lips in return and rose from her chairs. "See you in a bit."

* * *

Elsa liked strolling around the palace grounds at night. Behind the gates, closed each night, the palace was very safe, and the sights were beautiful, such as the gardens. The quiet and solitude, broken by nothing but the crickets, was soothing to someone who had once exiled herself to her ice palace and not found true love until well into her thirties. And though Elsa was very much a family woman, as a mother for the past year and a doting aunt for close to two decades, she had never lost her taste for a little alone time once in a while.

13 years of isolation had accustomed her far too well to the instinct.

Exiting the gardens, Elsa turned back into the front courtyard as she turned for the palace doors and home and her warm bed filled with her loving husband. The door was slightly ajar, letting a sliver of inviting light cast onto the stones.

And also a very interesting, shadowed object on the front stoop. An object which, as Elsa approached, let out a plaintive cry.

Elsa froze, biting her lip and her eyes wide. She knew the cries of a baby well, from the past year of intimately learning the wails of her baby daughter. And also the years upon years before that of comforting or singing to her niece and nephew. Warily, Elsa approached the object, coming into the light from the doorway. Upon first inspection, it appeared to be an ordinary wicker basket, the kind she might have seen in the villages and amongst the common people. The top of the basket was covered by a pink baby blanket. Reaching out a hand, Elsa pulled back the flap of the blanket to find...

A tiny baby girl, face scrunched up in tears as she squirmed in apparent discomfort. Elsa's face melted as her heart broke. "Ohhh..." she sighed with love, gingerly lifting the baby from its cradle. Elsa had become very adept at comforting babies, especially with her own child. Glancing quickly about, the Queen fretted. How long had this child been out here in the chilly night air? And where was its mother? Had anyone seen someone leave a basket in the castle courtyard? Digging through the wicker basket, these questions swirling in her mind, Elsa stole quickly and quietly back into the castle. Racing up to the royals' quarters, the baby was still crying... enough for a bleary-eyed Robert to stumble out of the Queen's private residence.

"That doesn't sound like Annabelle." Finally shaking himself fully awake, he glanced down at the bundle in his wife's arms. "I don't remember us having another child."

At any other time, Elsa would have laughed at her husband's humor; it was one of the many things that made her fall in love with him. But right now, she half-heartedly glared at him. "Get Anna and Kristoff."

Robert stared. "They're asleep! As we should be!"

"Just... get them, please, honey," Elsa was too tired to fight. "Tell them it's an emergency; they'll understand."

Robert nodded and padded down the hall to the Princess's private residence. Elsa, meanwhile, retreated to the sitting room - the very room where Hans had betrayed Anna long ago - to sit down by the warm fireplace and bounce the baby gently. After a few moments, the door handle jiggled and her husband, sister, and brother-in-law came in. Anna stared at the baby in just as much shock as Robert did. Yet in the next moment, her face settled sympathetically. Elsa didn't need to explain.

"Where did you find her?"

"On our front stoop," Elsa gulped. "The mother, whoever she was, is long gone."

"Why, it must have been abandoned!" Robert marveled.

"But... how do you know she was abandoned?" Kristoff frowned.

In answer, Elsa procured a piece of parchment from the wicker basket. "The mother left a note behind: _'Please, Your Kind Majesties, give my child the home that I cannot. She will be exceptional if only given the love she needs.'_"

Robert raised an eyebrow, but the smile was clearly trying to force its way onto his face. "Well, then, let's keep her!"

Elsa gaped at her lover. "You're not serious."

"But I am. Completely. Elsa," and he knelt by her side, eyeing her encouragingly. "You said so yourself once that you always wanted a second child. Sure, the trolls said it was too dangerous for you to have another baby, but this..."

Elsa gazed at him sadly. "It's not the same."

"I know it's not the same," Robert rumbled soothingly.

Kristoff frowned. "The Council might not go for it," he reasoned warningly. "They have very specific views about royalty and blood."

"You and I are here, aren't we?" Robert countered, pointing between himself and his brother-in-law. He and Kristoff were both born commoners before falling in love with and marrying the Arendelle royal sisters. "Hell, we _bred_ into the royal bloodline. And what do we care about bloodlines anyway? This family has all it needs: love. We have more than enough. And if anybody knows how to love, it's this family!"

"Hear, hear!" Anna cheered. "Love will thaw!"

"That's right!" Robert beamed, turning back to his wife. "This is an innocent little baby who's fallen into our laps, and this baby will have all the love we can give it. Besides, I think this could be good for you," he stroked Elsa's arm soothingly.

Elsa gazed at him, her heart overflowing with love for this man and wondering how she had ever lived without him. "You'll stick with me?"

Robert kissed her gently. "Forever," he promised. "Besides, this castle needs another lady in the house."

Kristoff stared. "Robert, you traitor! You, Christian and I are outnumbered as it is!"

Robert laughed. Then Anna joined in. Pretty soon, Kristoff and Elsa were chuckling right along with them.

Smiling, and confident for the first time since finding the baby, Elsa bounced the infant in her arms with love in her eyes, and a new resolve in her head and her heart. She would raise this child as her own, and no one could stop her.


	2. Chapter 2: Dirty Laundry

**Chapter 2: Dirty Laundry **

Elsa and Robert adopted the baby girl, and the Queen named her Iduna, after her own mother. If the Council harbored any objections, they didn't raise or otherwise voice them.

As time went by, Elsa grew to realize that Robert was right. Blood didn't necessarily make a family, love did. And though she herself had not given birth to her youngest child, Elsa loved Iduna just as much as she loved Annabelle. It was nice to see her dream realized, even in a roundabout way, and for Annabelle to have a playmate.

One morning, Elsa was in her study going over some important legal documents. The Council was going to be debating before her an update to the Arendellian tax code later that day, and she wanted to be sure to understand all aspects so that the deliberations were at least manageable to follow. Elsa was shaken out of her reverie when Anna suddenly barged in without knocking. Anna had never been the most conscientious when it came to knocking before entering a room; even Robert always rapped his own little greeting on the door to check if she was busy. Then again, perhaps Anna had eschewed the practice of knocking because it brought back painful memories: of locked bedroom doors and denials to play together.

"Someone's sprightly this morning," Elsa obersved dryly - her subtle way of asking why Anna hadn't knocked.

"I know, I know you're busy, but I just have to tell you!" Anna grabbed Elsa's hands and the two sisters flitted over to the sofa on one side. Holding Elsa's hands in her lap, Anna broke out into a beaming smile. "I'm pregnant again!"

For a long beat, two, Elsa could only stare into her baby sister's face. Anna searched the blank expression for some kind of emotion, anything. "Say something!"

And Elsa did. And it wasn't even what she was expecting as her entire face hardened and she nearly growled:

"I'm going to murder him."

Standing straight, Elsa marched with purpose out of her study, a bewildered Anna hot on her heels.

"Elsa, don't! What? Why are you so... you didn't even get this upset when we told you we were expecting Joan!"

"He should know better!" Elsa threw back over her shoulder, whirling to face Anna and fighting back tears. "The trolls told him - told both of you - what a third baby could mean, and... Ohhhhh..." And she ran from the palace, ignoring Anna's calls for her to stop.

It was never hard to find her brother-in-law; you just had to know where to look. And after twenty-odd years, Elsa did know. There were only a few logical places where Kristoff could be.

She found him in the first place she looked - the stablehouse, feeding Sven his morning meal. Elsa stormed straight up to him, not even bothered by the surprised look that quickly turned to wariness as Kristoff saw her coming his way.

"Morning, Elsa...?"

"How could you?" she practically screamed it at him, and though a cooler head would have reminded her that such behavior was not befitting of a Queen, at this point, Elsa didn't really care.

Kristoff looked totally perplexed, making that stupid face again that he always wore when he was confused. On her nephew, Christian, the identical expression was adorable. But on his father... Elsa had no patience for it. "How could I what?"

"How could you get her pregnant again?!" Elsa steamed. "You know what Grand Pabbie said could happen if you guys had a third baby! I was there! _'Anna might die from a third labor!'_ Remember that? Or were too focused on not keeping it in your pants?"

Kristoff's eyes widened. Never, in all his years of knowing her, had he seen Elsa this crass. In the past, the faintest mention of sex would cause to seesaw between blushing or blanching, followed by getting away from the conversation as fast as possible. Which only made him wonder how Robert had convinced her to bear their first child. But that was a conversation for another... well, really, no other time.

All that aside, the fact that Elsa would accuse him of not remembering his adoptive father's own advice was insulting. "Do you think I planned for this? That either of us planned for this? Do you? It just happened! And anyway, you're one to talk! When you got pregnant, most of the kingdom didn't know you were already married!"

Elsa put her hands on her hips. "Those are in no way the same circumstances! Robert and I discussed having children well before we began trying. From where I'm standing, you and Anna had no such talks before going around without protection!"

Kristoff frowned at her. "Anna and I are married, consenting adults! What business is it of yours if she is pregnant or not?"

Elsa gawped. "How dare you question my stake in all of this! I could lose my sister!"

"I could lose my wife!" Kristoff's voice actually cracked.

"And you couldn't care less!" Elsa hurled vindictively.

She might as well have sent a well-placed icicle in his direction, for how Kristoff stepped back as if he had been physically struck. Even if Elsa hadn't literally frozen his heart, she may as well have from the partially-disbelieving, partially-loathing stare he now sent her way. He even gasped a little. "That's horrible..." he breathed, shaking his head. "You're horrible..."

"Excuse me," Elsa squeaked, fighting back angry tears as she made to stalk from the stables.

"No. Let me," Kristoff snapped, brushing past her. Only at the door did he stop, but only enough to wag a shaking finger as his voice trembled. "Full. Freaking. Circle."

* * *

Elsa shut herself up in her study for the rest of the day. She canceled her Council meeting regarding the debate over the tax codes, and only admitted her servants to take her meals. All the while, the sun continued its path in the sky over Arendelle. It was dipping in its final descent over the mountains when Elsa heard a knock at the door. She listened to the pattern of the rapping against the wood. Robert. Thank heavens. "Enter," she sighed.

Robert slipped inside and quietly pulled the door to. Glancing up, Elsa could see that her husband was fixing her with a gaze that lay somewhere between sadness and sympathy. She cocked an eyebrow. "What? Are you upset with me too?"

Robert huffed out a low breath. "I don't know. First, I need to know what the hell happened. I leave for an all day ride into the mountains to survey our lands, and I come back to my family practically at war. Kristoff and Anna are crying, Joan and Christian are sitting around trying to figure out what the hell they did wrong, and the babies are on edge because they sense everyone else is!" The King took a moment to catch his breath. "OK, rant over. Now: what happened?"

Lip quivering, Elsa buried her face in her hands. She began to sob loudly, not particularly caring that she was doing so in front of her husband. She sensed Robert's tension leave his body.

"Awwwww..." he sighed, circling the desk to take her in his arms. Elsa felt herself immediately relax, if only ever so slightly. Robert was the only person other than Anna who could hold her like this and make her feel safe. The thought of her sister, and the way she had reacted and how this whole mess had started only made the Queen cry harder.

"Anna's... Anna's pregnant again," she sniffled, daring herself to look up into her husband's face. True to form, Robert broke out into a beaming smile.

"Well, then, what's all this for? This should be a happy time!"

"It won't be if she dies in childbirth!" Elsa blasted out, almost coming apart anew. "Don't you remember what the trolls told Anna and Kristoff?"

"I - Ohhhhhh," Robert drew out as the memory came back to him. "So..."

"I blew up at Anna, then hunted down Kristoff and let him have it," Elsa blurted bitterly. "There. Is that the answer you were looking for?"

Robert sighed. "It's certainly not the one I was expecting," he conceded. There was a moment of silence. Elsa knew it was her husband trying to figure out what the hell to say. She waited almost on baited breath; trust Robert to have a way with words and put what she was feeling in a way that might make it seem even a little bit better.

"Something tells me there is more to this than you're saying. What's this _really_ about?" He eyed her pointedly, and Elsa felt as though he was staring into her very soul. It wasn't as though she was lying to him, she wasn't. But she couldn't help but feel that once again, Robert was absolutely right - there _was_ something more to this than she was letting on.

And in that moment, Elsa realized just what that something was. And it made her feel even worse. She gulped, her voice quavering as her eyes swam once more with tears. "I feel jealous," she confessed to him. "Anna will have three children, and I'll have only two - only one of which I actually gave birth to - and once again... she'll be better than me." She almost breathed the words, as if she was coming to this discovery for the first time herself.

To his credit, Robert did not judge her in any way. He simply peered at her, digesting what his wife had just told him. From the look in his eyes, he seemed to take it as a revealing and acceptable answer. Elsa wiped at her eyes fruitlessly. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know it's stupid."

"It's _not_ stupid," Robert countered immediately. "It's natural. And this is coming from someone who was an only child all his life. I can only imagine that you and Anna had some competitiveness between you, at least when you weren't apart. Just as Joan and Christian probably competed with each other when they were smaller - I've seen some of that. And as Annabelle and Iduna grow, I have no doubt they will express similar feelings - and it won't be any different than if they were biologically related. Siblings compete, just as siblings fight. And siblings always make up in the end." Elsa loudly read the subtext behind that last statement, but chose to say nothing. Instead, she stared up at her husband adoringly.

"I can't imagine what you were like when you were younger. As a little boy."

Robert shuffled bashfully, blushing a little. "I actually wasn't much different," he admitted.

Elsa just chuckled and reached up to kiss him soundly. When they drew apart, she murmured, "I love you."

Robert grinned. "I know, darling."


	3. Chapter 3: Ambassador High Princess

**Chapter 3: Ambassador High Princess**

The next night at their first family dinner since the feud, however, it was as if Elsa had never been calmed by Robert at all. The mere sight of Kristoff seated at the other end of the table, of Anna already cradling her still flat stomach in that motherly, nesting way, made all the envy Elsa had discovered in herself boil up to the surface. Most of it was born out of the not entirely irrational fear that Anna could welcome this new life at the cost of her own, plunging Elsa into untold depths of misery. Grand Pabbie had been right all along: _fear will be your enemy_.

And Elsa could not be bothered to conceal, don't feel this time.

Glancing between Elsa and Kristoff glaring at each other from opposite heads of the table, Robert pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He wanted his family to work this out on their own timetable, but could he really trust them with such a task? Then again, he was the King, and even though resolutions couldn't be forced, he might not have a choice.

"Please, everyone," he begged. "Can't we just have a nice, friendly meal?"

Elsa made her response to that entreaty quite clear as she stabbed a fork into her broccoli with the force it would take to fell a reindeer. Her eyes didn't leave Kristoff's. The Ice Master's hand twitched by his plate, as though he was tempted to make some rude gesture, but his mind thought better of it. He forced his eyes back to his meal.

Across the table from her uncle, Joan bit her lip awkwardly. She had grown into a beautiful young woman and resembled her mother quite a bit, especially in her expressions. Anna hated fighting and always strived to make the best peace. Her daughter was no different. The silence was unnerving, broken only by Annabelle and Iduna chittering side by side in their highchairs.

Finally, Joan couldn't stand it any longer. Desperate to at least change the subject, she announced, "I have some good news!" Her smile grew at the utterly grateful look Uncle Robert sent her way. She cleared her throat. "The Council has asked me to serve as Arendelle's Ambassador to Corona on its next diplomatic voyage!"

Anna squealed in excitement, and ran around the table to hug her daughter. "Oh, honey, that's wonderful news!"

Elsa found it within herself to relax and also smile. The Prime Minister had informed her of Joan's appointment just that afternoon. "I'm so proud of you, Joanie! Corona is a fine country, with lots to offer. Learn all you can, but be sure to have fun, as well. Explore whenever you have the time." It was the best advice she could give her niece - after all, diplomacy was as much about listening to the politics as it was learning about the other country and its culture and values.

A smile finally won out on Kristoff's face as well, though it was a tired one. "I can think of no one better for this opportunity, Joan. You will do so well."

Robert, however, was the only adult who was silent. He hadn't expected this to be the good news. Elsa hadn't shared it with him, though that was easily understandable; perhaps she hadn't had time, or wanted Joan to be the one to say. It was small comfort, though, against the worry that now plagued the King's soul... and it wasn't solely confined to Elsa and Kristoff's feud anymore...

* * *

_He was back in the hold of his ship, watching as the hulking, imposing men placed the cloth back over Joan's mouth. He watched as they forced the little Princess back into the closet, threatened to hurt her if Robert made any sudden movements. The sweet girl who would someday be his niece was in danger... and there was nothing he could do to stop it..._

"Joan!" Robert called out her name as he sprang up in bed and into the conscious world. He was in a cold sweat, panting and breathing hard, glancing wildly about for enemies that he no longer needed to fight. Beside him, he felt the bed dip and the sheets rustle, as his wife stirred.

"Robert?" her soft voice called into the darkness, and then he felt her silky nightgown on his skin as she snuggled up next to him. Feather-like kisses danced across the curve of his neck, and they slowed his stacato pulse, the racing beat of his heart. "Bad dream?" Elsa murmured soothingly.

Robert flopped back into the pillows, bringing Elsa close into his side. "Kidnapping. The boat again." He tried to say it flippantly, like it was as something innocuous as a blow to the head. That Elsa's body refused to relax against him told him that she didn't believe that was all. Sighing, Robert decided it was time to do a little admitting of his own.

"I'm worried about her going to Corona. More importantly, I'm worried about her getting on any kind of ship." As far as he knew, Joan had not set foot on a sailing ship since she was 14, when she had been kidnapped for ransom and hidden aboard Robert's ship, where he was also held hostage. The former blacksmith and struggling sea captain had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time - though, in an amazing twist of fate, it had led Robert to meeting the love of his life.

Elsa's head bobbed against him, and she pressed a kiss into his chest. "You have a connection with her that I'll never understand," she confessed. "And I know Joan feels the same way about you." Robert nodded slowly. "But you don't think I have those same fears? My parents set sail for a wedding and they never came back. They were lost at sea." Elsa sighed. "This family has a weird thing with ships and the ocean."

If she was trying to make a joke, it almost flew right over Robert's head. Still, he tried to laugh a little bit, for her sake. Elsa snuggled closer to him.

"But this is Joan's decision. We can't make it for her. Not even her parents can. And maybe she feels she needs to do this. To get over her fears from the kidnapping. Did you ever think of that?"

Robert, in fact, hadn't, but it made a certain kind of sense. "I suppose that's logical," he conceded. "But she is only getting on the most seaworthy vessel, with a captain who knows what he's doing. And..."

He was cut off when Elsa practically clambered on top of him and kissed him deeply. After several moments, they broke apart. "Of course she will," she soothed. "I know you'll see to that." She lay herself back on her chest. "You're a wonderful uncle," she murmured. "I wanted nothing less than the best for Joan and Christian, and I got it."

Robert smiled tiredly. "If anyone's lucky here, it's me. I'm so glad I found you, my love. I'm so glad I found you..."

"And I, you," Elsa smiled. Within moments, the couple had fallen back to sleep.

* * *

It was a few days later when the royal family went to see Joan off at the docks. It turned out that Robert hadn't needed to commission a ship and crew to escort Joan on her voyage. The Corona government had supplied their fastest vessel, represented by none other than Prince Consort Eugene Fitzherbert himself. The handsome royal and former rogue greeted the Arendelle monarchy with a dazzling smile, introducing himself to Joan last of all.

"We are so happy that you will be joining us for this trade agreement, Your Highness," Eugene beamed, taking Joan's hand and kissing it. Elsa was the only one to see Joan blush. The Queen couldn't exactly blame her niece, as she watched Eugene turn back to his crew, readying them for departure.

"I find that man to be incredibly handsome," Elsa spoke out loud, to no one in particular.

"I'm standing right here, Elsa," Robert muttered, literally standing right next to her.

Elsa smirked, enjoying her husband's discomfort. "I know."

Joan bid farewell to her family, one by one. Kristoff pulled his daughter in for a deep hug. "Sail safe," he implored.

"And remember, Princess Rapunzel is going to meet you at the harbor. She's a cousin of ours; you'll be in safe hands with her," Anna reminded her oldest child.

Christian wouldn't let Joan out of his hug for an amusingly long while, and Joan pressed kisses on Annabelle's and Iduna's foreheads. "Don't grow up so fast," she pleaded. When she finally managed to extract herself from her little brother, Joan threw her arms around her Auntie Elsa. Elsa held back tears.

"Oh, my baby," she sighed. "I love you."

Uncle Robert was last of all. He and Joan regarded each other, before the young woman glanced back to the ship, then again to the King with fear in her eyes. She was looking for permission - to see if it was OK.

Robert rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck. "I, uh... I'll always be here for you."

Joan blinked back tears. "I know." Uncle and niece embraced, and then Joan turned around and willed her feet up the gangplank.

"Unfurl the mainsail! Raise anchor! Drop the top gallant!" The ship came to life as it set sail, the Arendelle royal family waving goodbye.

"Be safe!" Robert called out, Elsa leaning into him as they watched the ship speed off for the horizon.


	4. Chapter 4: Coming Out

**Chapter 4: Coming Out **

Elsa bit her lip as she looked at her husband, his eyes curious as he waited to hear what she had to tell him. Ever since Anna had announced that she was expecting, Elsa had been traveling from one point of self-discovery to another. If this was what people called a soul search, it was all-encompassing... and exhausting. This new moment of awareness had been the most difficult to grapple with of all, and Elsa thought she would only feel better about it if Joan was here. But her niece was still in Corona, and anyway, this was a conversation that she felt was best conveyed to one family member at a time.

"I've... discovered... that I am attracted to both men and women," Elsa confessed to her lover and strongest supporter. She winced a little when she noticed Robert's eyes blink in surprise. "I've... read some research, and the term for it is apparently... bisexual." Again, she paused, giving herself a moment to gauge his reaction. "This doesn't change anything or how I feel, at least for me. I want nothing more than to stay married to you. And I love you," she sighed. "I love you so, so much. We know everything about each other, and I just want to make sure that it really is _everything_. No more concealing or not feeling." She eyed Robert warily when he still wasn't saying anything. "Do you hate me?"

Another beat of silence. And then, in the next second, Robert was on her, kissing her mouth again and again. Elsa tried to speak through it, but Robert was sucking each and every word from her lips. At last, he let her go, grinning broadly. "Does that answer your question?"

Elsa giggled, overcome with relief. Husband and wife embraced, just as Anna came skipping into the study. "And what are you two lovebirds getting so cozy about?"

Elsa glanced to her sister, and with hope in her eyes, guided her over to the couch. She whispered what she had to say into Anna's ear, wanting it to be private, just between them, as her telling her husband had been.

Anna's reaction was just as enthusiastic and accepting as Robert's. She practically jumped her sister in a big hug, beaming even as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "I love you. No matter what. Thank you for telling me."

Robert nodded his concurrence. "We will keep this a secret - something tells me this is happy news that only you should share. Unless of course, there are other people you do want to tell?"

Elsa wrung her hands. Yes, there was at least one other person she wanted to share this with. But even more than with her husband and her sister, Elsa was terrified over how he might react.

Joan's departure for Corona (from where she was still not back) had done nothing to thaw the tensions between Elsa and Kristoff. She and her brother-in-law were still not speaking to each other, and it was starting to weigh heavily on Elsa's heart. She deeply regretted ever reacting to Anna's pregnancy the way that she had, and though Anna had readily forgiven her, it was an open question as to whether Kristoff ever would. After all, it was he whom Elsa had hurt the most.

"I want to tell Kristoff," Elsa admitted. She glanced at her feet. "And not just about this. There are... other things." Robert eyed her knowingly, and maybe with a bit of pride. "I don't know if he'll accept any of it."

She grew confused when she noticed Anna smiling knowingly. "If I know my husband," her sister weighed slowly, "you're fretting about this more than you should. Why not just go and try?"

Bolstered by whatever hidden message Anna was trying to tell her, Elsa went out in search of her brother-in-law. She knew where to look.

She found him in the stablehouse, schlepping manure out of Sven's stall. "Hey, reindeer man," she called in greeting, hoping the nickname usually employed with affection might let him know that she came in peace.

Kristoff paused in the scrape of his shovel, turning to Elsa with a blank expression. Resting against the shovel, his arms folded on top of the handle, he eyed his sister-in-law passively.

"What's up?"

His numb response, his lack of any kind of emotion, made Elsa's courage falter, and she twisted the folds of her dress into knots. "I have something to tell you, and it's really important to me, and I'm telling you because you matter to me and I love you and..." Her voice trailed off when she saw Kristoff cock a questioning eyebrow.

Elsa burst into tears. She buried her face in her hands and wept. Kristoff made no moves to console her, perhaps figuring that she needed to get this out on her own. Or maybe he really cared that little now. Either way, if she didn't get this out now, she never would.

"I'm... I'm bisexual. I... am attracted to both men and women. It's something that I want my family to know, and you are family, and... and..." She started sobbing again. "And I'm sorry!" For those were the words she had come here to say more than any others.

Through the watery film in front of her eyelids, Elsa could see that Kristoff was not reacting, at least beyond a shrug and saying, "Who you're attracted to doesn't matter to me."

It was more than Elsa deserved, she knew. Nevertheless, she was grateful. She hiccuped, tears streaming down her face as she continued. "And I really am sorry. About... I didn't mean what I said to you - not a word. You're an amazing father, and you've never given me any reason to doubt that you'll take care of my sister. When I learned about the baby, I... thought that it meant Anna was once again better than me. I... I was jealous." She hung her head, deeply ashamed. "And I took it out on you. Then I was too proud to admit what I did or what I was feeling. But when I'm wrong, then I say I'm wrong, and I was wrong about you."

For a long moment, there was silence. Elsa barely had the guts to meet Kristoff's eyes. His face was still passive, maddeningly neutral, but at last, he nodded. "I believe you," he said. He sighed. "It wasn't just what you said that hurt me, Elsa. It was the memories those words brought back that hurt me too."

Elsa blinked, peering at him, working back through her memory.

"Do you remember the first year after the Great Freeze? When Anna and I were first together?"

Elsa nodded slowly. She was encouraged by the fact that his tone was measured and gentle.

"You were so protective of Anna, you wouldn't let me sleep in the castle. I had to sleep in the stall with Sven. At the time, I didn't let it bother me, because I rationalized that you were just trying to protect Anna, and after Hans, I couldn't exactly blame you. Anna was about ready to kill you, though; she ranted to me all the time about it when she had to come visit me in the stables or whenever we went out together - chaperoned by the palace guards, if I remember correctly."

Elsa gaped in shock. "She's never told me this..."

"Of course she wouldn't. And she didn't, because she didn't want to upset you. I went along with it at first, but after a while... it got old. It stung. I was hurt that you didn't seem to trust me, and you matter enough to Anna that I wanted to earn that trust. If you came to like me in the process, I felt I could consider that a bonus."

Elsa spluttered like a fish. "I... I just wanted what was best for her! I mean, I know she's strong, and she can find that for herself, but she had never had the best track record before then. But how was she to know about Hans, and I..."

"Are you sure you're not my wife in disguise?" Kristoff smirked. "You're rambling worse than her."

_Was that a joke?_ Elsa blinked. Kristoff's widening smile made her think that it was, and she dared to smile back. "I'm not, neither."

And her brother-in-law actually laughed and before she could prepare herself, he had wrapped her in a hug. "I forgive you," he murmured soft and low in her ear.

And Elsa cried tears of relief.

* * *

Joan was overjoyed when she returned from Corona a week or so later to find that her father and aunt had reconciled. The diplomatic negotiations with the neighboring Spanish kingdom had been a great success, and Rapunzel had even sent with her relative a personal letter to Elsa, extolling the young princess's political skills.

With the family all reunited and healed again, everyone in the castle set to work preparing Anna for her third child, as the Princess's pregnancy continued apace. Several months following Joan's return, Anna finally went into labor, electing to deliver the baby in the bedchambers of the princess's private residence. Paralyzed with fear, Kristoff and Elsa waited together out in the hall, clutching each other's hands and looking grim.

When the midwife came out and reported that Anna was tired and happy, but alive, the father and aunt were both overcome, collapsing in tears of relief. Grand Pabbie's prediction had not come to pass. Elsa and Kristoff led Robert and all the children into seeing Anna and meeting the new addition to the family. Joan, Christian, Annabelle and Iduna were all thrilled to meet their little sibling/cousin, and Elsa was reduced to tears all over again when she was told that Anna had named the baby Elsabeth, in honor of her sister.

Now, at long last, the royal family of Arendelle was complete, and at peace.


End file.
